It is a long journey, and sometimes life happens! Of course, life always happens, it’s just that sometimes you have to adjust priorities. Your every day routine shifts.
I earned my first blue belt stripe at Carlson Gracie Menifee in December, and I couldn’t be more excited. Not excited about the stripe per se, but about what it means to see forward movement in my journey.
Over the last year life has led me in various directions. Some good, some great, and some painful. I have been through some nagging injuries which quite honestly are getting a bit annoying. If you ask, I’ll continue to blame old age. I also made various life changes that included some very involved career moves which took focus and dedication, and a bit more travel than I had seen over the previous 12 months.
Needless to say, these variables have slowed my mat time, and training has not been consistent. From November through December my training increased only to be slowed by more travel and injuries come the new year.
The purpose of this post was really to remind myself that life will continue to happen, and that’s OK. I am a 37-year-old businessman and father of 5 beautiful daughters. Curve balls are going to be part of my being on this earth 🙂
That said, I love Jiu Jitsu. It has truly changed my life, and I can’t ever see a day where it isn’t somehow a part of my life. I still study through videos and read about techniques every day, even when I know I can’t train for whatever reason. The journey continues, and always will.
My commitment to my journey has not weakened, in fact I would argue that it strengthens by the day. I am committed to my team and couldn’t ask for better folks to train with. This is the month leading into the IBJJF Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship which is the next tournament I will be competing at. I am not prepared as I should be, but I am doing it anyway. I am not a medal chaser (although reaching the podium rocks) but rather a practitioner that believes that competition elevates your training which ultimately helps improve your game. Improving is my focus, and competing will give me the opportunity to win and learn, or learn and learn, there is no losing.
To close, I’d like to point out that I know for a fact there are a lot of players out there dealing with these same events, constraints, blocks, whatever you want to call them. All I can personally say is it sure feels good when I am on the mat, and even though it’s tough for me to consistently train sometimes, I always go back. Can you honestly tell me you don’t feel a bit of a void or an emptiness when you’re not training? Don’t let it get to you! Just do it, go train. Find a way. Life will continue, and so will your Jiu Jitsu journey as long as you get back on the mat as often as you can!
~Oss